Swing and a miss: Edgar Martinez falls short of Hall of Fame

Mariners DH received 70.4 percent votes

Edgar Martinez waves to the crowd following his speech during his number retiring ceremony at Safeco Field on Saturday, Aug. 12, 2017.

Edgar Martinez waves to the crowd following his speech during his number retiring ceremony at Safeco Field on Saturday, Aug. 12, 2017.

Photo: GRANT HINDSLEY, SEATTLEPI.COM

Photo: GRANT HINDSLEY, SEATTLEPI.COM

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Edgar Martinez waves to the crowd following his speech during his number retiring ceremony at Safeco Field on Saturday, Aug. 12, 2017.

Edgar Martinez waves to the crowd following his speech during his number retiring ceremony at Safeco Field on Saturday, Aug. 12, 2017.

Photo: GRANT HINDSLEY, SEATTLEPI.COM

Swing and a miss: Edgar Martinez falls short of Hall of Fame

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Maybe next year, Edgar.

In his next-to-last year of eligibility, former Mariners designed hitter Edgar Martinez fell short of earning a place in the National Baseball Hall of Fame, receiving 70.4 percent of the votes.

The Baseball Writers Association of American announced the National Baseball Hall of Fame's class of 2018 on Wednesday and it includes: Longtime Atlanta Braves third baseman Chipper Jones (92.2 percent), Expos and Angels outfielder Vladimir Guerrero (92.9), Indians first baseman/designated hitter Jim Thome (89.8) and Padres closer Trevor Hoffman (79.9).

Players needed to be named on 75 percent of ballots cast for induction.

"Getting 70 percent is a big improvement and all I can think right now is it's looking good for next year," Martinez said during a conference call Wednesday afternoon. "Would have been great to get in this year, but it just looks good for next year."

"Thank you to all the fans out there that supported my #HOF candidacy. We are trending up, next year may be the year. Thank you Mariners and the best fans in baseball."

He saw significant jumps since being named on just 25.2 percent of the ballots in 2014, a low point for his candidacy. "At that time I thought I would never get to this point," he said Wednesday.

In 2016, Martinez jumped from 27 percent to 43.4 percent. That rose to 58.6 percent last year.

Martinez, who now serves as Seattle's hitting coach, was a career .312 hitter over 2,055 games spanning 18 major league seasons, all of which came with the Mariners. He won two American League batting titles (1992 and 1995), hit 309 home runs and 514 doubles and drove in 1,261 RBIs over his career, which began in 1987.

The winner of five Silver Slugger Awards, his career .933 OPS ranks ahead of Hall of Famers like Hank Aaron (.929), Frank Robinson (.926) and former teammate Ken Griffey Jr. (.907), who became the first player ever inducted into the hall as a member of the Mariners in 2016.

The award for baseball's best designated hitter, won by Seattle's Nelson Cruz in 2017, was named for Martinez in 2004.